Cervical cancer expert coming to town for Q&A

Whether cervical cancer runs in your family or
you have questions about whether your daughter should receive the
HPV vaccine, a cervical cancer expert will be on hand near
Ahwatukee Foothills to answer your questions next week.

Cervical cancer is a cancer at the opening of
the uterus. It’s relatively uncommon compared to other diseases
like breast and colon cancer, but it is a cancer where screenings
and preventative measures have proven rather effective, said Pamela
Soliman, a Houston-based gynecological oncologist with an M.D.
Anderson and the featured speaker at next week’s Ask the Cancer
Expert night presented by Banner Health.

“Since patients have had screening for cervix
cancer, numbers have gone down significantly,” Soliman said. “We
think with the vaccine, it will go down even further than that.”
About 10,000 to 11,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer in
the U.S. each year, Soliman said. If you look outside the U.S.,
it’s the second leading cause of death among women.

Many doctors believe vaccinating against the
sexually transmitted disease HPV will reduce cervical cancer rates
because of the strong correlation between the two diseases. Among
cervical cancer patients, 95 percent also have HPV, Soliman
said.

The HPV vaccine is currently approved for
girls ages 9 to 26, and was recently approved for boys of the same
age, Soliman said.

But even with that correlation between HPV and
cervical cancer, there was controversy when the vaccine first came
out.

“HPV is a known sexually transmitted disease.
I think some people from a moral standpoint don’t feel comfortable
vaccinating their 10-year-olds against a sexually transmitted
disease,” Soliman said, adding that she hopes that controversy dies
down quickly and the HPV vaccine becomes one of the normal
vaccinations kids get before they go to school.

It’s most effective when given before sexual
activity starts, and since no boosters are known to be needed, one
series of injections should protect girls for life, Soliman
said.

Also, kids are already vaccinated against
things like Hepatitis B, which can also be transmitted sexually,
she said.

“Giving a vaccine to a 9-year-old isn’t
necessarily going to encourage them to be sexually active,” Soliman
said.

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